LOS ANGELES--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Three new members representing the Central Basin Municipal Water
District and the city of Glendale were seated yesterday on the board of
directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Aceituno replaces Leticia Vásquez-Wilson, who had served on the
Metropolitan board since February 2015 and previously from February 2013
to July 2014. Hawkins returns to Metropolitan’s board—where he served
from July 2014 to February 2015 and from June 2003 to August 2009. He
succeeds Robert Apodaca, who represented Central Basin since February
2013 as well as from June 2003 to August 2009. Sinanyan follows Laura
Friedman, who had represented the city since February 2009.

First elected to the Bell Garden City Council in 1999, Aceituno is the
city’s longest-serving elected official. He was elected to the Central
Basin board last November, representing Bell Gardens, Downey,
Montebello, Pico Rivera, West Whittier-Los Nietos and unincorporated
areas of Los Angeles County.

Aceituno was recognized by Central Basin in 2007 for his work in making
Bell Gardens the first city in the region to embrace a city-wide water
conservation program. He helped transform the city into a "California
Friendly City" model by integrating key water-saving measures at public
parks and facilities.

A life-long Bell Gardens resident, Aceituno is the city’s representative
to the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Southeast Area Animal
Control Authority, Southern California Association of Governments,
Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District, Eco-Rapid Transit
and the Gateway Cities Council of Governments.

Re-elected to his fifth term on Central Basin’s board last November,
Hawkins currently serves as board president. His Central Basin district
consists of the cities of Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Hawaiian
Gardens, Lakewood, Paramount and Signal Hill.

A real estate broker since 1977, Hawkins has opened several businesses,
including Realty World in Bellflower, Herbert Hawkins Realty, also in
Bellflower, Century 21 in Norwalk and the Dean Company.

Hawkins, a Cerritos resident, was elected to the California Assembly in
1994, representing the 56th Assembly District until 1996.
During his Assembly term, he was chairman of the Committee on Housing
and Community Development and vice chair of the Committee on Budget, and
served as a member of various other committees.

An attorney with his own Glendale law practice, Sinanyan was elected to
the City Council in April 2013 and served as mayor from April 2014 to
April 2015. The founding chair of the Glendale Economic Development
Corp., he currently serves as Glendale Housing Authority chair,
secretary of the Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena Airport Authority, and vice
chair of the Eco-Rapid Transit Authority.

Born in formerly Soviet Armenia, Sinanyan earned his bachelor’s degrees
in political science and history at UCLA and his juris doctorate from
the University of Southern California Law School.

While in law school, Sinanyan interned for Justice Earl Johnson of the
California Court of Appeal, where he helped draft appellate opinions for
a number of cases ranging from criminal to civil matters. He also
clerked and worked for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s
Enforcement Division.

Note to editors:Digital photographs of the new Metropolitan
directors are available upon request.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a
state-established cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving
nearly 19 million people in six counties.The
district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California
to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased
water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management
programs.

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